The Wayward Ten and the New Rules of Engagement

Democrats continue to demonstrate that minus a few exceptions, they are the party of ineptitude and indecision.

Ten Democrats joined Republican to censure Texas Representative Al Green of Texas for his actions during the State of the Union address.

Their names are:

Ami Bera of California, Ed Case of Hawaii, Jim Costa of California, Laura Gillen of New York, Jim Himes of Connecticut, Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, Marcy Kaptur of Ohio, Jared Moskowitz of Florida, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington and Tom Suozzi of New York.

For his part, Himes explained his actions thusly:

“I don’t mind being one of 10 Democrats who said, no, there’s a deeper principle at stake here, which is reverence for this institution. (Lawmakers need to act) “with the decorum and with the civility that says to the world that we are a serious country. I have no love for Donald Trump, but I do have reverence for the Office of the President.”

This is how fascism takes root.

Misguided American voters empowered fascism leavened with racism and sexism, and the people who are our last line of defense can’t agree on how to fight back.

Some Democrats walked out before the speech started.

Others flashed handwritten signs or wore protesting badges.

For his part, Representative Green raised his voice and shook his walking cane.

It speaks volumes that the party couldn’t agree on staging a unified protest.

They should have all walked out in one accord.

If they were going to stay in the chamber, they should have been loud and boisterous, voicing displeasure with the dismantling of medical and social programs (the same programs that would benefit the pediatric cancer patient that they put on display even though they have gutted pediatric cancer research), and the looting of the treasury by Elon Musk.

If they were going to stay in the chamber, Representative Green’s actions were appropriate.

We’re past the point where we should care about decorum.

Our current situation requires expressions of righteous indignation.

What decorum is necessary when we have when we have a buffoon of a president, a male vice president who lectures about family values while wearing mascara, and the Scylla and Charybdis of Congress, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert, fangirling like they’re at a Harry Styles concert.

The Republicans are rude, crude, and nasty.

They are hateful, spiteful, and contemptible.

Trying to be dutiful and polite isn’t going to save the Republic.

It will only be saved by concerted, unified action.

It will not be saved by legislators trying to stay on the president’s good side because he doesn’t have one.

We won’t be rescued by double-minded politicians more concerned about niceties than being rowers on a sinking ship.

We need more Al Greens and Jasmine Crocketts.

More JB Pritzkers and Janet Mills.

We don’t need the ten Democrats who voted with the Republicans.

They need to be primaried and driven out of office.

We need Democrats and Republicans politicians who have the courage and fortitude to resist.

We won’t save America by being divided.

That’s how we got here.

Democrats decried how Kamala delivered her message.

She was too vague.

She was too specific.

She didn’t try to reach across the aisle.

She didn’t do Rogan’s podcast.

She was defeated by racism and sexism, and by fractured support from a party on the verge of permanent irrelevancy.

With so much is at stake, our only recourse is constant agitation, complaint, and dissent.

We must march, speak out, and write to our congresspeople and senators.

We must make phone calls, speeches, send emails, letters, and leave voice mails.

We must use plain, direct language.

We must vote at every election.

We must vote against anyone with an R behind their name because anyone running as a Republican is operating as a sycophant of the president, his administration, and fascism.

We must not worry about following etiquette, Rogers Rules of Order, or the Marquis of Queensberry rules.

For example, when the Vice President goes for a skiing vacation, we must harass him and run him out of town.

Being civil and high-minded won’t defeat fascists.

Being organized, committed, and determined to fight back while we can still fight back is the only answer.